


Late

by cloudyminds



Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, i literally havent written fanfic in forever im sorry, mainly binwoo but the other ships are there too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-02-28 10:59:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13270038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudyminds/pseuds/cloudyminds
Summary: Bin hadn't meant to scare the child- he really didn't.





	1. RIP Bin's New Job

**Author's Note:**

> okay i haven't written a fanfic in a while so i threw this together rly quickly (i probably won't finish it) in case anyone wanted to suggest me prompts bc I was REALLY dry and lost on what to write so?? yeah take this for now, i'll be back once i figure out what i want to do lmao

“Hold the door!”  
Bin was having a terrible day thus far- and it was only 9 in the morning. He slept through his alarm, woke thirty minutes after he meant to, had nothing in the pantry he could stuff in his mouth and call breakfast, waited through a long line to get an overpriced cold stale bagel, was now nearly an hour late for work, and was running to catch the the bus that had conveniently began departing as Bin arrived.

“Oh my god.” Bin groaned in frustration, running a hand through his hair. “I can’t believe this. I took forever to find that job, and now I’m going to get fired on my first day!” He nearly screamed, tugging at his dark locks of hair, covering his face as he let his head fall.

“Eh..?”

Bin looked up in confusion, turning to see who had spoken. He turns and sees a small child (maybe 10? it was hard to tell, he seemed young but was _really_ tall) clutching tightly at his ice cream. He had wide, brown eyes, and fluffy sandy-blonde hair. Normally, he would think this child was cute and probably grin and wave at the child, but this was not normally. And the child was about to cry.

“D-Dongmin-hyung!” The kid whined, backing away. “There’s a scary man!”

He hadn’t meant to scare the child- and he certainly hadn’t meant to scare the child on the street on his way to work. His first day of work. As he was still late.

“No, no, shush- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, I just- I’m late, and I’m basically a broke guy, and I’ve been having a terrible morning, but- anyway! I’m not here to hurt you, or anything, shhhh-” Bin offered a weak smile to help his case, but despite his efforts, the kid began to cry anyway.

Bin didn’t take any steps towards the kid, knowing full well that the kid would begin sobbing more loudly, attracting more attention than he already was. As he was racking his mind for what to do in a situation like his, he felt a hard smack to the back of his head.

“And what do you think you’re doing to Sanha?” A voice asked harshly, although a nervous tone was evident in his voice.

“Nothing! I was just standing here rambling to myself and he-” Bin cut himself off once he turned to look at his attacker, who was a really, really handsome guy. He looked around the same age as Bin himself, and looked surprisingly cute while he was angry. In his hand, he held a sandal, and a quick glance down at his feet confirmed that it was, indeed, his sandal.

“Are you going to explain yourself, or?” The guy, supposedly ‘Dongmin,’ asked harshly, snapping Bin out of his thoughts and silent appreciation.

“Yeah, um, about that- I’m really late and I really need to get to my job, here’s my number, you can beat me up later, I’m sorry for making your kid, uh, brother? Cousin? I don’t know, sorry for making him cry- I’ll make it up to you, if you get in contact! Sorry, bye!” Bin ran off, leaving a quickly torn sheet of paper with his number scribbled on it in his wake as he disappeared quickly down the street.

Dongmin half considered chasing him for a moment, before he remembered Sanha was still crying behind him.  
He’ll get back to that rude boy later. Maybe. And if that was just a poor attempt at getting away while getting Dongmin his number, it was still pretty smooth. Or, at least, it was enough to woo Dongmin.


	2. Misfortune vs Fortune

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bin's luck is always terrible, enough said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (not proofreaded sorry)  
> heyhey I expected to finish tmrw but I spent my whole afternoon reading and writing fanfic and ignoring my hw so here :D  
> so heres ages bc!! that got confusing!! for those who didn't see chapter i deleted with updates I changed Sanha's age to fit the story better I guess? He's now 9/10 ish (probably 10) and not 4/5 anymore  
> and for the other ages:  
> Minhyuk: 11  
> Bin: 15  
> Jinwoo: 17  
> Myungjun: 17  
> Dongmin: 16  
> I may change them again later but for now I think that's what fits best!! now onto the storyyyy  
> hope you enjoy! <3

Weeks later, Bin still hasn’t gotten a text from the mysterious (really cute) boy who was supposedly known as Dongmin. He constantly checked his phone, always hopeful, but to no avail. This went on for a few days at first, but then he started to worry.  
Because, he had scribbled his number quickly (one, he was late; two, Dongmin didn’t look scary but he was armed with a sandal- those hurt!) and he had written it on a little scrap piece of paper. What if his writing wasn’t legible enough? Or if he wrote it wrong? Or if he didn’t have enough room on the paper and accidentally ripped it too much?  
Or worse- what if everything was completely legible and fine, and Dongmin just didn’t want to talk to him, even if it was so he could be repaid? Did Bin look too sketchy? Was he just not interested?  
Oh, yeah, wait-  
He might just not be into guys.  
Because not everyone is gay, or bi, or pan.  
Riiiiiiight.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
Okay, honestly, everyone’s at least a bit gay, right?  
But as that final thought occurred to Bin, he already knew it sounded ridiculous, even to his standards.  
He didn’t know why this Dongmin person not texting him was such a big deal to him, anyway. It’s not like he knew him, and it’s not like he was lonely, or anything. He had friends, and he had a school life and a job to handle. He didn’t need a random guy he met on the street jeopardizing all of that for him, even if it was his own fault that his memory was such a problematic thing.

Anyway, Bin was clearly suffering from the lack of communication he was getting with that boy (he even tried to go a bit closer to late than should be comfortable to work a few times to see if he could catch Dongmin again on the way) and he was on the verge of giving up all hope he had.  
He was in the middle of his moping at lunch, eating with one of his upperclassmen and his boyfriend, Jinwoo and Myungjun. The two had a rule to refrain from couple-y stuff at the table, but he has caught them oogling at each other too many times for the rule to even be effective anymore. The two were in the middle of some discussion about their math teacher, Mr. Park or something.  
Bin picked around at his food, stabbing some pieces of food and shoving other pieces around the plate. It had been nearly four weeks- that’s nearly a month!- since he had met Dongmin last and he was barely even holding onto his last strand of hope anymore.  
He was about to pull out his phone to check for another notification, when a younger kid approached him.  
“Hey, Minhyuk, what’s up?” He asked, when the mentioned kid reached him.  
“Hey Bin-hyung, I was wondering if you could, I dunno, call my mom for me or something please?” The kid, Minhyuk asked, scooting to sit on the bench with Bin. Myungjun and Jinwoo both looked over and greeted the boy, but returned to their own conversation quickly afterwards. He was 11, nearly 12, and he went to the school neighboring Bin’s, the one for the lower grades. He was in his sixth year of school, and Bin was in his second year of high school. He had babysitted Minhyuk at first, because their parents were friends, but he grew to like the kid’s company- he was pretty fun, and cool.  
“Yeah, sure, why?” Bin pulled out his phone, some new snapchat notifications from some of his classmates and friends, some instagram notifications, but nothing that seemed really important.  
“Uh..” Minhyuk diverted his gaze, and Bin quickly noticed how he started tapping his food nervously. “So my friend and I, he goes to my school, he’s a grade under me and stuff, he’s pretty neat-”  
“What’s your point, Minhyuk? Get on with it.” From this Minhyuk visibly flinched, maybe even blushed a bit.  
“Well, uh, his mom was coming to pick him up, y’know, since we get off early today, and she like invited me over and I told her to wait so I could go ask my mom and I obviously don’t have my mom here to ask so… please?” He pouted, grasping his hands together and looking up at Bin, even though he wasn’t too much taller than him.  
He was planning on saying yes either way, but rolled his eyes at the younger’s attempt at being persuasive. “Yeah, sure, I’ll call her. I assume I gotta pick you up later then?”  
“If all goes well, yeah. Sorry, hyung.” Minhyuk smiled sheepishly, with a shrug.  
“No worries,” Bin waved it off, clicking the call button.

Bin sorted out the little hangout for them as Minhyuk and whoever his friend was already ran off to the car to wait. He got the address from Minhyuk’s friend’s mother (wow, that’s a mouthful) and arranged a time to meet up, etcetera etcetera. He confirmed all the details with Minhyuk’s mom, and bam! They were off! He still had at least ten minutes before his next class started too, leaving him enough time to stuff a burger in his mouth and get this things and be in the class with five minutes left to spare.

After this class, he had two more, and then he would have to go to work. He’d be at work for three hours, before he had to go pick up Minhyuk. It seemed easy enough-  
That is, if you were anyone but Bin.  
Because Bin had the worst luck.

You see, Bin worked very, very part-time at a supermarket. And, you see, supermarkets can have lots of people, and those lots of people are normally local dwellers who come to get their groceries for their household. And, you see, pretty boy might have just possibly been a local dweller coming to get groceries, because he was right there today.  
In the other checkout lane.  
But Bin knew he saw him, he was sure of it- they made eye contact, for goodness sake! But pretty boy (Dongmin, he reminded himself- he was human, he had a name, and a personality, and a life that intrigued Bin much more than just his pretty face) had turned away, a scowl on his face as it slowly transitioned to different shades of red.  
In his distracted state, Bin forgot he was in the middle of ringing up a customer, until they called him back into the real world, one where he wasn’t talking to Dongmin and sorting stuff out, and definitely where he wasn’t taking Dongmin out on a date or something to repay for the damage he had caused with Sanha. He was handing the customer their change and apologizing again for getting distracted and turned to make sure Dongmin was still there-  
But he was gone.  
And he still hasn’t gotten a text from him.

He finished his shift in a worse mood than usual, but of course he still made an attempt to be polite and cheery with the customers- they didn’t deserve bad customer service just because their cashier was having ongoing bad luck, after all. He grumbled under his breath a lot, annoyed at himself, annoyed at the world, but if any of the customers noticed, they didn’t mention it to him as they finished paying for their items so they could get on with their life.  
But Dongmin would not stop crossing Bin’s mind, and it bothered Bin to no end.  
What if that wasn’t Dongmin, and he just made eye contact with a stranger that looked a lot like Dongmin? Of course, it had been a month or so now, so maybe Bin just happened to forget what Dongmin looked like and the new pretty stranger just looked a lot like the old pretty stranger that he somehow pining hard over.  
Gosh, did Bin sound desperate right about now.

Bin bopped his head to the music playing in his headphones as he walked briskly to the location the woman had given him earlier, letting a gps on his phone direct him to the location.  
The location that was actually a 20 minute walk away.  
While he was already late because his shift bled a bit. 

Of course, Bin had called Minhyuk’s friend’s mother (still a mouthful) immediately once he realized he’d be late, and she said it’d be no problem, but he could feel that he’d need to cough up a few sorry bucks now.

To make it worse, it was cold outside, and Bin didn’t have a jacket. Luckily, he remembered Minhyuk did, so he wouldn’t get beat up for freezing a child, but he’d be too frozen himself for it to even matter if he was beat up or not.

If all of this wasn’t bad enough already, Bin almost made a child cry again for the second time this week as he arrived to pick Minhyuk up. And it was the same child, both times.

Bin was just greeting the kid’s mother, apologizing, giving her money- y’know, the normal stuff when you’re a kid that looks really irresponsible and is acting really irresponsible- when Minhyuk peeked his head out from behind the woman’s form, grinning widely. “Hi Bin-hyung! Sanha, come out and meet Bin-hyung!” Minhyuk called, pulling the younger by the hand outside.  
At the mention of the name, Bin froze. At the sight of the kid with the name, Bin almost toppled over.

It was the same kid he met a month ago, when he had also happened to meet Dongmin.

Sanha was ready to greet him with a smile and wave, but as soon as he saw him he stopped and let out a yelp, scrambling to hide behind Minhyuk.  
“This is the scary guy I told you about, Hyuk!” Sanha whimpered. “The one who was talking to himself and pulling his hair on the street? The one who looked ready to beat someone up?”

Ready to beat someone up? Bin didn’t look like that, did he?

“About that, I don’t really think I looked like that, but- I’m sorry, I was having a really bad day, I didn’t mean to-” Before Bin could properly finish his apology, Sanha was already tearing up. Minhyuk hugged his friend, even though he was way taller than him.  
“Shh, Sanha, remember? This is my fun babysitter, that I told you about! Really cool, really funny, is super awesome, and is a really good dancer? And I’ve known him longer, right? Don’t worry!”  
Minhyuk looked really awkward, comforting a lanky kid taller than him who was cowering behind him and crying, but Bin was really thankful that he was, otherwise his mom would’ve punched him off his feet by now. Thankfully, she didn’t look like she trusted him any less than she did before.  
Bin was able to properly apologize to Sanha and promised him an ice cream someday with Minhyuk and himself after he had calmed down, and he accepted surprisingly happily, despite the fact that he was literally crying because he was scared of him not even three minutes before.  
He had the sinking suspicion that he was being watched, but he shrugged it off and walked Minhyuk back to his home, which was only a few minutes away from Sanha’s.  
And then he started his long trek back to his own home, hopefully before his hands froze off.

It was only when he got home, did he check his phone. Many new messages from an unknown number lit up on the screen when he turned on his phone.

6:47  
(xxx) xxx-xxxx  
hey, um  
I heard you took care of the repayment already but  
I still wanted to message you, I guess.  
(it’s the guy who came running at you with a sandal a month ago, if you remember me)

And despite how cold Bin felt, he may have just warmed up just a bit too much, too quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol sorry this is unrelated but everytime I wrote Dongmin i accidentally wrote DOngmin and i found that rly funny for some reason alright bye I'm gonna listen to crazy sexy cool on repeat now


	3. Bin's Luck is Bipolar(TM)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who knew one text could make someone so happy?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE NAME IN BRACKETS IS THE CONTACT NAME THE OTHER PERSON HAS THEM AS IN THEIR PHONE  
> EXAMPLE: [ bin ] = dongmin has bin's name as bin, and bin is talking
> 
> none of my writing is ever proofreaded whoops
> 
> read end for more notes and updates, read chapter now :D

Bin quickly clicked his phone off and on a few times- one, to check the time, and two, to make sure the messages would still be there.

They were.

“Hey sweetie, I made din-”

“Thanks, mom, I’ll be right out!” Bin rushed out, cutting his mother off as he rushed to slip off his shoes and run to his room, throwing his backpack down and grasping his phone tightly with both hands, so that his knuckles were white. Dongmin had sent him that message about 30 minutes ago, so hopefully he hadn’t already left

7:23

[ cute guy ]

hey omg sorry i had to walk home!!

dongmin, right? i’m bin, sorry we couldn’t have any actual introductions and stuff

i know its not an excuse to be rude to strangers but i was rly late for work and it was my first day

aksdhfla now im rambling omg sorry i bet you’re asleep and stuff too

 

Bin groaned and fell back on his bed, almost wanting to laugh at how stupid and desperate he sounded. He bet Dongmin thought he was some weird creep and was already deleting his number.

Wait.

His number.

Dongmin’s had his number this whole time. The right number, obviously, since he just messaged him correctly and all.

Wow, his chances did not look high at all if Dongmin has been able to contact him this whole time and decided not to.

 

Before Bin could worry too much, though, he got a response from Dongmin, surprisingly quickly considering Bin messaged him forty minutes late

 

7:27

(xxx) xxx-xxxx

oh hey!

nah dw i forgive you sanha’s mom told me abt how minhyuk was genuinely talking you up and stuff and she thinks you’re trustworthy so i do too

 

Bin skimmed his message quickly. Ah, so that must be the reason he knew about the repayment and stuff, and why he even messaged him at all- Sanha’s mom cleared everything up for him.

He took a moment to respond, not knowing how to say anything without it sounding awkward. He quickly changed Dongmin’s contact name before typing anything else, briefly making him wonder what his name was set as in Dongmin’s phone- if he had even set it as anything.

 

7:30

[ bin (cute guy) ]

ah yeah sanha

the lil guy i babysit hangs out w/ him apparently?? nice surprise

aksdflh he seems so precious tho i feel so bad about making him almost cry

7:33

[ dongmin :) ]

nono don’t worry he gets scared really easily!! i’m not really the best at fighting but i try to stand up for him as much as possible yknow??

not your fault at all tho seriously you didn’t do anything!

7:34

[ bin (cute guy) ]

aw :(

well at least he has minhyuk!! minhyuk’s as tough as a rock, i swear

I think he’ll do a great job @ keeping sanha safe :D

A knock on Bin’s door brought him back to his room, where he was sitting on the bed staring at his phone while his mother waited outside with dinner.

Right.

“Sorry mom! I’ll be right out, just let me do something!” Bin called out, hearing a faint sigh and “alright” from the other side of the door, followed by footsteps growing more distant.

7:34

[ bin (cute guy) ]

sorry to cut our convo short but i have to go eat dinner!!

i promise ill message you again later, if you wanna talk

and i’ll repay you and stuff too bc its not fair sanha gets a treat but you don’t ;)

bye!!

Bin clicked off his phone as soon as he sent his last message, already regretting everything he sent (especially the wink- why did he have to put a wink?). He stuffed his phone under his pillow so he wouldn’t be able to access it again until he was calm enough, and ran out to join his mom for dinner.

  
  
  


“So..” His mom started casually, reaching over the table to put a piece of meat on Bin’s plate.

Bin made a ‘hm?’ sound, looking up at her in response, as his mouth was stuffed with rice and he was unable to respond verbally without it being really gross and rude.

“Is there a reason you huddled in your room for ten minutes before coming out to eat? I know you don’t resist food, even when you’re freezing your butt off.” She gave him a knowing smile, causing him to nearly choke on his rice.

She only laughed at his reaction, as the sound of the front door closing signaled his dad had come home from work.

“Honey? Bin? Wait, which one of you is choking and why?” He called out, coming into the room with his shoes still on to check up on the two. He came in to the sight of a  _ really _ red Bin, who was coughing and trying to clear his throat now.

“I think that boy Binnie’s been ranting nonstop about finally took a jab at him.” His mom explained casually, continuing to eat as if nothing had just happened.

Yeah, so, Bin may or may not have accidentally came out to his parents once when they were watching a drama and his mom was talking about how pretty the lead actress was, when Bin said he thought the lead actor was prettier. He immediately noticed his mistake, and his mom was about to brush it off as nothing, until Bin screeched and ran off to his room, leaving his parents alone and confused on the couch.

Thankfully, they were both very accepting of him after the initial shock passed- they were much more understanding than most normal Asian parents would be.

Bin’s father raised a brow, looking over to Bin who had began blushing much more, if it was possible. “I’ll get back to you on this, I just ran in with dirty shoes.”

“You what?” Bin’s mother looked to his feet to see, indeed, he had walked in and left a trail of dirt on their nice clean carpet.

Bin’s situation was completely forgotten for the moment, as Bin’s father tried to escape his mother alive.

 

Bin smiled as he watched his parents run off, his luck finally swinging in the right direction for the first time in the past days.  
He hopefully wouldn't remember he sent an awkward winky face until later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one's sorta sucky compared to the other chapters but i kinda just.....................threw it on and hoped it sounded good enough  
> I always encounter this problem in my stories where i feel like my story is too repetitive or bland?? idk  
> but here's another chapter!! im really happy about the good feedback I'm getting for these, and I'm glad some people are watching out for updates :D i honestly dont know where this story is leading though, so be prepared for deletes and rewrites in the future probably  
> and for anyone who's been reading and keeping up with my notes, thanks for caring <3  
> here's a name to pin to my thoughts:  
> \- ame


	4. Appearances and Such

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Dongmin has just about as bad of luck as Bin does, but far less confidence.
> 
> tw: weak parent/child relationships, implied homophobia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SO SORRY IM SO LATE OALKSDFJH IVE BEEN CAUGHT UP WITH SCHOOL I DIDNT MEAN TO MAKE YOU GUYS WAIT TWO WEEKS OH MGYDO I AKSHDFLA  
> bUT!! its from dongmin's perspective!! woo!!  
> next one will probably be both since i dont have that much more of dongmin's perspective to catch up on?? i dont think??  
> enjoy!!

Dongmin never thought that any day soon in his life he would have to come running at someone with a sandal.

Scratch that, Dongmin never thought that any day soon he would have to some running at someone at all.

Yet, here he was, sandal in hand, sweat beading down his neck, standing in front of some stranger who looked more confused and frustrated than scary.

“And what do you think you’re doing to Sanha?” Dongmin called out, willing his voice not to waver, and hoping he sounded convincing enough.

He glanced back to Sanha, who was frantically wiping away his tears. His heart tugged a little, wanting to reach out and help him, but remembering he had to get rid of this threat(?) first.

“Nothing! I was just standing here rambling to myself and he-” The stranger trailed off as he turned to face Dongmin completely, and they locked eyes.

Okay, he was admittedly a bit cute. And Dongmin was admittedly not that straight.

He didn’t look like he was doing anything wrong, but Dongmin would be the last person to judge people based upon their looks, since everyone did it to him so often. The nerve of this guy, to scare Sanha like that! Well, sure, Sanha got scared easily, but still.

Realizing that the boy wasn’t going to continue, Dongmin tried to make his expression as stern as possible, swallowing the lump in his throat and urging him on.

“Are you going to explain yourself, or?”

The boy was already inching away, and before Dongmin could advance he was already beginning to run off.  
“Yeah, um, about that- I’m really late and I really need to get to my job, here’s my number, you can beat me up later, I’m sorry for making your kid, uh, brother? Cousin? I don’t know, sorry for making him cry- I’ll make it up to you, if you get in contact! Sorry, bye!”

Dongmin frowned, almost chasing after him, but deciding it wasn’t worth it. Instead, he watched as the boy’s figure grew smaller and smaller as he disappeared off into the distance.

He sighed, looking down to see a small piece of paper with a bunch of numbers scribbled on it. He pocketed it for later, and turned back to Sanha, who was still crying.

He approached him, crouching down and wrapping his arms around the lanky kid, awkwardly hugging his small frame.

“Shh, shh, Sanha.. it’s alright- let’s go get you more ice cream, okay?”

And with that, they were off.

 

Sanha wasn’t his brother. Sanha wasn’t his cousin. Sanha was that kid that happened to be the child of the woman that took Dongmin in after he left home.

Why did he leave home?

Because he happened to be bi- as in, bisexual, not bilingual, but he was that too.

He had perfect grades. He was, for the most part, a good child (although his parents thought otherwise). He had friends. He had a life. But that was all wasted because he happened to like both genders.

Maybe that might’ve been a bit of why Dongmin didn’t give a second glance to that number for the next week.

He knew it was there, he knew he could message that random cute guy and demand repayment for scaring Sanha at any time, but despite everything that happened he really, really still seemed innocent, and Dongmin wasn’t the type to use excuses like that to get closer to someone. Plus, it was just a big reminder of his past.

But, still, he could text him. Start new. Make a better future.

The number was there, waiting, strangely inviting.

But Dongmin couldn’t text him.

It would be weird, he thought, some random guy who’s supposed to be mad at you just casually messaging you, wanting to be friends, even though you’ve never exchanged more than two sentences in your lifetime.

Or, he also thought, maybe he would get creeped out, thinking Dongmin was only messaging him because he wanted to get with him. What if he was straight, and he thought Dongmin wanted to get with him? He’d be creeped out even more in that case- disgusted, even.

Yet, the urge always pulled him back, the little strip of paper on his desk tugging for his attention relentlessly.

 

Two weeks after the incident, Dongmin finally pulled himself together and…added his number to his phone as a contact. He tried to message him, he really did- but then he realized it’s been a while, too long of a while, and any nervousness he had before was now slapped under the big label that was awkwardness due to time.

So, instead, he settled with typing the boy’s number into a new contact, setting the name as ‘cute boy,’ and leaving that at that.

But yet, the universe didn’t think putting him under a contact was enough, apparently, because he just _kept running into him._ Nearly anywhere he went now, he would somehow find himself catching a glimpse of that boy, hanging out with his friends at a cafe, running around at the park with some kid that strangely resembled Sanha's friend, or just walking around enjoying his day.

The worst day was when Dongmin not only saw him, but was seen back.

Apparently, the cute guy worked at the supermarket nearby, the one Sanha’s mom always went to. This week, Sanha’s mom was letting Sanha hang out with a friend or something, so she needed to supervise the two, and sent Dongmin off to the market instead, and it could only be Dongmin’s luck that in the check-out lane right next to him stood the tall, muscular, cat-like boy whose name he didn’t know. And, of course, it was only Dongmin’s luck that the boy turned around to look at him as he was cursing his luck, an unpleasant expression on his face.

Dongmin didn’t turn back to the guy afterwards, and left the store as soon as he finished buying everything asked of him, heading back to the house.

 

Yet, of course, that wasn’t the last time he saw him that day.

Of course, the cute boy had to have known the kid- Minhyuk, was it?- that Sanha was hanging out with.

Oh.

Wait.

 _Sanha_.

Dongmin watched from the upstairs window as Sanha was already tearing up, longing to go down and comfort the child that was nearly his brother, but not wanting to meet the boy (assumingly Bin, the babysitter that Minhyuk had been talking about) again.

So Dongmin watched, like the nervous awkward guy he is, as the situation erupted and died down within the span of two minutes. He couldn’t hear everything, but he assumed by the fresh smiles and wiped tears that everything was cleared up, and even Sanha was starting to grin now.

Dongmin’s heart might’ve skipped a little as he saw Bin grin back.

 

He didn’t know what happened afterwards, all he knew was the the universe was clearly shoving them together and he would have to take the hint and initiate whatever friendship they may have, because he’s the only one that can.

So, he sat, chat opened, hands ready, message typed-

But lack of confidence to hit send.

Next thing he knew, ten minutes had passed, and he had retyped the message about 23 times, and finally gave up and decided to ramble, because clearly he wasn’t going to get anywhere with anything else.

6:47

(xxx) xxx-xxxx

hey, um

I heard you took care of the repayment already but

I still wanted to message you, I guess.

(it’s the guy who came running at you with a sandal a month ago, if you remember me)

 

And now, we wait.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uh so sanha isnt actually dongmin's brother but dongmin lives with them and sanha is practically his brother so they good  
> im thinking about making a yoonmin fic if any of the multifandoms want it??  
> i rly wanna make a soulmate au ugh i love those


	5. Dongmin is Whipped Already

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe this isn't that bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow  
> i dont write at all and when i do it sucks  
> save me  
> i wont try to give excuses or anything im sorry i hope this is good, i still don't really know what to do with this story i guess? every good story needs some drama but rly the most drama this story couldve had was the sanha v bin encounter and that was solved already so  
> yeah im dry on the plot lol  
> this is mostly recap from dongmin's side still whoop  
> im done talking now enjoy and read more notes at the bottom

Waiting wasn’t that agonizing, actually. Dongmin always heard from his friends that this moment was really stressful and that it was a moment of life or death, and that’s how it always seemed in shows too, but Dongmin was kind of.. relaxed? He brewed himself a cup of tea, took a quick warm shower, and got started on reading a new novel with his tea by his side, nearly falling asleep before he heard a chime from the side of his bed. He turned to his phone, and sure enough, saw the screen lit up: a new notification.

He lazily reached over to see it, surprised at seeing the time (it had only been 30 minutes?), but even more surprised when he realized the notification was from the cute guy.

 

7:23

[ cute guy ]

hey omg sorry i had to walk home!!

dongmin, right? i’m bin, sorry we couldn’t have any actual introductions and stuff

i know its not an excuse to be rude to strangers but i was rly late for work and it was my first day

aksdhfla now im rambling omg sorry i bet you’re asleep and stuff too

 

Dongmin sat for a moment, not really knowing how he should respond to him. He decided maybe he should make his forgiveness clear first, typing and retyping his message a few times before he hit send, satisfied with it.

 

7:27

(xxx) xxx-xxxx

oh hey!

nah dw i forgive you sanha’s mom told me abt how minhyuk was genuinely talking you up and stuff and she thinks you’re trustworthy so i do too

 

And now was when the nerves set in and Dongmin realized that feeling that everyone was talking about as he waited for a response.

Dongmin had taken so long to message him- if Bin was interested before, he definitely would probably not be now, since he put off messaging him for nearly a month. To pass time, he decided to add Bin’s name to his contact, so he could get used to seeing it and stuff. As he saved the contact name, another message rolled in, and he didn’t even have time to take a breath before he was clicking on the notification and scanning the message.

 

7:30   
[ bin (cute guy) ]   
ah yeah sanha   
the lil guy i babysit hangs out w/ him apparently?? nice surprise   
aksdflh he seems so precious tho i feel so bad about making him almost cry

 

Dongmin smiled inwardly at himself. Bin seemed fun to talk to, regardless of whether he was just being polite now or not, and he found it strangely endearing how apologetic Bin was about all of this. He made a mental note to himself to message Bin frequently, to hopefully rid them of the awkward air that came with avoidance for a month and being near strangers.

 

7:33

[ dongmin :) ]

nono don’t worry he gets scared really easily!! i’m not really the best at fighting but i try to stand up for him as much as possible yknow??

not your fault at all tho seriously you didn’t do anything!

 

7:34

[ bin (cute guy) ]

aw :(

well at least he has minhyuk!! minhyuk’s as tough as a rock, i swear

I think he’ll do a great job @ keeping sanha safe :D

 

Dongmin has to restrain himself to keep from outwardly smiling. At the same time, Sanha came running into his room, various toys in his hand, one being his favorite duck plush. “Dongmin-hyung! Ma says dinner will be ready soon, but I want you to play with mee,” Sanha whines, hobbling up next to him on the bed, not asking before he climbs up and sits next to him.

“Who’re ya texting?” He asks nosily, tilting his head and trying to get a look at the screen. Dongmin hastily clicked his phone off, shaking his head at him. “No one, don’t worry. Of course I’ll play with you- let’s go downstairs, hm?” Dongmin smiles, scooting to get off the bed, ushering Sanha along with him. He made note to apologize to Bin later, if he was still there.

 

To his surprise, there was another message from Bin when he came back, sent right after the previous messages but not seen in time before Sanha came in.

 

7:34

[ bin (cute guy) ]

sorry to cut our convo short but i have to go eat dinner!!

i promise ill message you again later, if you wanna talk

and i’ll repay you and stuff too bc its not fair sanha gets a treat but you don’t ;)

bye!!

 

8:27

[ dongmin :) ]

oh god um sorry for the late response sanha wanted me to play with him and then we went to have dinner

 

He paused, not really knowing how to continue his statement for a moment. Bin just suggested that he was okay with continuing talking to Dongmin, and kept talking about some repayment (with a  _ wink _ ) despite Dongmin continously saying it was fine.

8:30

[ dongmin :) ]

i hope this doesn’t sound weird but 

yeah i’d love to keep talking with you

you seem fun, i’d like to keep getting to know you

and dont worry abt the repayment i told you its fine!! but thats not a no to hanging out with you in the future aha

8:31

[ bin (cute guy) ]

oh hey I didn’t know youre still awake o:

yeah id definitely love to keep talking to you 

wow wait that sounded more creepy than i thought nvm

WAIT NOT NVM AS IN TALKING TO YOU I WANNA KEEP TALKING TO YOU I MEANT NVM TO LIKE

ME SOUNDING LIKE A CREEP

omg im a mess sorry am i spamming

yeah im spamming omg aksdhfals im sorrY

 

Dongmin smiles even wider, seeing his texting antics, imagining him probably getting flustered or embarrassed on the other side of the screen.

Maybe he was being nervous for nothing, maybe this could be cool.

Needless to say, both boys were nearly late for school the next morning, both kept up by another person on the other side of the screen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> do you guys care if i self promote  
> bc im @stars.exe on insta and I do singing covers and I'd love some extra support ;)  
> anyway yeah so this is it for this chapter pls comment suggestions on how to continue bc i rly dont know LOL  
> i have a bit of an idea but who knows if ill do it and if itll be good honestly  
> im just gonna pray and write and hope it ends up sounding good yknow?


	6. Ups and Downs, or Whatever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything's going pretty swell in Binwoo-land.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooOoOOoo im updating two fics on the same day woAhHhHH  
> i started a yoonmin fic!! you can find it [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13832592/chapters/31814016)!!  
> this ones kinda a shortie I'm sorry!! but i wanted to let you guys know that im getting into the last quarter before i graduate and i need to write a big essay for it so I might be really inactive on here due to it? that or I may be really active because of procrastination lol  
> but anyway, I'm sorry in advance, I hope you enjoy the chapter!!

Dongmin fell into place in Bin’s life quite easily. Despite the weird circumstances of their meeting and the somewhat weirder circumstances of their reunion, they got along quite well and found themselves working the other into their routine quite easily. The two didn’t go to the same school (though they would be soon, since Dongmin’s school was much farther away and was pretty inconvenient when there was an equal school closer to their home) but they still shared their lunch breaks. Since Dongmin’s school was farther, the two compromised and found a nice park in between the two schools to meetup and have lunch. Dongmin quickly found out that Bin devoured all of his food but was still left hungry, despite the large size of his meal. He didn’t see how one could inhale their food so quickly and still manage to be so fit, but he started taking it upon himself to make a little extra food in the mornings to share with Bin at lunch time. Seeing Bin so happy made every single bit of it worth it.

Bin found out that Dongmin liked to read. He came a bit late to lunch once, and found Dongmin sitting propped against their usual tree, book resting on his lap as he read silently, headphones slipped into his ears. “Ah, Dongmin.” He called out, a bit of a distance away from the tree. He got no response, and frowned, noting that his lunch sat on the ground, the place Bin normally occupied, untouched. “Dongminnieee,” he tried again, walking closer. He sighed, getting no response, sitting down besides the other male and yanking out an earphone. At this, Dongmin finally raised his head, eyes blown wide, somewhat in shock and somewhat afraid. He calmed, seeing that it was just Bin, and closed his book, setting it to the side and tucking his headphones away. “Hi, Bin. Sorry, I get kinda lost when I read.”

“You haven’t even touched your lunch.” Bin whined, handing him the container that was on the ground.

“Mm, I wanted to wait for you. Plus, I got lost in the book.”

They both began eating in a comfortable silence, the only sound being the occasional clink of their chopsticks and sometimes a fork or a spoon, before Bin broke the silence.

“So, you like to read?”

“Yeah, I do. You?”

Bin scrunched his face up in disgust, making Dongmin laugh in response. But despite his hatred for books, Bin let Dongmin ramble on about his books for as long as he wanted, retelling the stories and adding his own bit of commentary, almost even persuading Bin that books weren’t all that bad.

Almost.

Over the course of the few weeks, the two found little bits and pieces to slot into their memory of the other. Bin loved animals, Dongmin had a sweet tooth, Bin loved dancing, Dongmin played piano. Slowly, they made it so that you could’ve thought they had known each other for years although they had only really been talking for a month, though they knew each other for just nearly two.

Bin didn’t see any problems in their friendship, despite the awkward bump from their meeting. They had become close rather quickly, and Bin was happy about it. They were comfortable with each other and didn’t mind telling each other little bits and pieces of their personal lives, like how Bin felt a bit insecure about eating so much sometimes, and how Dongmin was afraid people would just want to be friends with him because he was smart and pretty.

Secrets were still hidden from both sides, but that was fine. They would tell each other when they were ready, of course.

But Bin came to lunch one day, but he was alone, and he couldn't think of one thing Dongmin told him that could've been a reason for his absence that day. Dongmin was always there first, and if not he usually came within the next five minutes. So, Bin waited, and waited, and _waited_ , but Dongmin didn’t come.

 

11:46  
[ bin!! ]

dongmin!! you’re laaateeee

 

11:51

[ bin!! ]

dongmin?

hey, are you okay? you’re not normally this late, im getting kinda worried

 

11:57

[ bin!! ]

min? are you there?

 

11:59

[ bin!! ]

was it me? im sorry, i didn’t mean to do anything :(

 

12:03

[ bin!! ]

okay, ill stop bothering you now, please get back to me as soon as you can, i’m sorry.

 

Bin finally gave in and started eating his lunch, but his normally delicious lunch tasted bland, as Bin was overcome by hurt and worry. Nonetheless, he finished his lunch, and was packing up his boxes when he got a response on his phone.

 

12:10

[ dongmin :) ]

bin.. they know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaAaaAAa they know?? o:  
> hope you enjoyed the chapter!! im sorry to leave you on a cliffhanger :(  
> i gotta skedoodle skedaddle tho bc im writing this while procrastinatin gaksjhLA WHOOPS  
> keep your eyes peeled for more of this like 10 years later lmao  
> thanks for the support, please keep it coming <3  
> also please support hixtape and eyes on you!! look mv comes out mar 12 6pm kst! (1am pst, 3am cst, 4am est) thanks!!  
> \- ame


	7. Hurt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bin was hurt he didn't know what was happening, Dongmin was hurt he couldn't do anything without it hurting more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i suck at summaries stab me with a spork  
> hey its another update bc im procrastinating lol  
> send help my grades are gonna plummet from this eventually  
> hope you enjoy the chapter or whatever  
> hope it doesnt sound too rushed or anything

Bin nearly stopped and ran to Dongmin’s school, hunting him down and demanding an explanation when he read his text. It was so vague but for some reason struck a sense of uneasiness and fear into Bin. He hurriedly typed out a response, sending it as soon as he finished typing.

 

12:10

[ bin!! ]

they?? who? knows what? what’s going on min??

 

He noticed the little bubble indicating that Dongmin was typing pop up, but then it disappeared.

 

12:11

[ bin!! ]

min? dongmin? hey, talk to me, what happened?

 

After waiting another five minutes, Bin realized he would have to go if he were to make it back to class on time, but tried to call Dongmin on the way. No answer, as he figured would happen. Bin frowned. He made a mental note to stop by the Yoon household later to see if Dongmin was home. Bin tried calling again, each time ending up at the voicemail.

As he approached the school, he gave up, and left a voicemail.

 

_ Please leave your message after the tone. (Beeeeep) _

 

“Hey, Dongmin, it’s Bin. I might just be overreacting or whatever but I’m really worried, okay? I’m dropping by your place later, you better have still eaten lunch without me. I don’t know what you’re talking about, with the ‘they know’ stuff, but I’m sorry. I won’t pry, but you can talk to me whenever, okay? I’m heading back to class now. Bye, stay safe. I’ll see you later.”  _ I love you _ . Bin bit his tongue to keep the last phrase from slipping, and ended the call before he said anything else.

 

Now seated in class, Bin can’t help but let his mind wander. Yeah, his mind usually always shifted to Dongmin a lot recently, but now it was a concern for Dongmin rather than a wow-I-want-to-hold-his-hand-and-kiss-him-senseless thought for Dongmin. As each minute passed, the possibilities for things that could’ve happened were slowly getting worse in his mind.

The day went by slower than ever after lunch, and Bin had to wait it all out, counting down the minutes until he could try to go to Dongmin’s place, and see if he was there, and find out what was wrong.

As soon as school let out, he ran to Dongmin’s home, getting there in a little under ten minutes. He knew it would take longer for Dongmin to arrive because of the distance from Dongmin’s school to his home, so he tried ringing the doorbell to see if Mrs. Yoon was home- she might’ve already left to pick up Sanha, after all. No one answered the door, so Bin assumed it was such. Twenty minutes later, and maybe 50 failed call attempts to Dongmin, Sanha and his mom arrived home, but there was still no sign of Dongmin.

 

“Oh! Hello, Bin. Are you here to see Dongmin?” She asked, helping Sanha out of the car with his backpack.

“Yes, ma’am,” Bin replied politely, with a worried smile. “I haven’t seen him all day, I was wondering if he was okay?” To this, she visibly frowned. “I don’t think I can say whether he’s okay or not. I don’t think he’d like visitors right now, though, I’m sorry- I don’t know when he'd be okay with visitors again.”

“Oh.” Bin responded simply, blankly nodding. “That’s alright. I understand. Tell him that I said hi, if you can, please. Thank you.” Bin bowed at her, and waved to Sanha, before promptly leaving. He felt that same sensation of being watched again, as he did on the first day Minhyuk and Sanha had a playdate. This time, he turned to look at the windows. He knew Dongmin’s room was the first on the second floor, closest to the right, but looking at it he only saw his light blue curtains opened slightly, but no sign of Dongmin. He frowned, turning around and continuing his walk.

 

Mrs. Yoon gave a sigh, watching Bin’s retreating body with Sanha by her side for a moment before turning around and leading her son back up to the entrance of their home, unlocking the door and letting her son in, following him in and closing the door behind them.    
“Can I go see Dongmin-hyung?” Sanha asked his mom in a hushed whisper. In the middle of the day, he was called up to the school office for a message, and ended up talking to his mom on the phone, who explained the Dongmin situation to him and warned him to be mindful of his actions around Dongmin the next weeks. He dutifully agreed, saying he’d make sure to do anything in his power to make Dongmin comfortable, because Dongmin always helped him when he needed it the most around the house.

“No, not yet, sweetie. How about you go to the kitchen? I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for you. I’m going to go talk to Dongmin, alright? I’ll be right back down with you as soon as I can, okay?” Mrs. Yoon punctuated her sentence with a boop to Sanha’s nose. Sanha nodded enthusiastically, and made a beeline to the kitchen to searched for the sandwich.

The woman watched him run off with a loving smile, before her expression changed to a more stoic one, going upstairs to find the other older male, who she liked to call her son as well.

She approached his door, knocking softly before gently asking, “Dongmin?”

A shuffling noise was heard, before there was a click and the door opened. Dongmin peeked out to her, eyes slightly puffy and red, obvious signs he’d been crying. “Yes, ma’am?”

Mrs. Yoon frowned a bit at the sight. “Bin just came by, he was looking for you. He said hi. You know you can’t hide from him forever? You have to tell him eventually, dear- of course, whenever you’re waiting. But Bin would understand.” With no response from Dongmin, who averted his eyes, she continued speaking. “He was really worried about you. Before I came I saw him frequently checking his phone, and I bet he was waiting for you.”

“I haven’t checked my phone since.. that.. I mean, I texted him back once, but..” Dongmin trailed off, and Mrs. Yoon saw the hurt in his eyes, knowing exactly what he meant.

“Alright. Would you like to come down and eat? Sanha’s downstairs having a sandwich, and he’d love it if you could join him.”

Dongmin shook his head slowly.

Mrs. Yoon let out another sigh, but nodded. “Okay. I’ll bring dinner up to you in a bit, okay? And I’m staying with you until you finish it all. Take care of yourself, Dongmin- if you need anything, just call me. I’ll be around the house.” Dongmin nodded with a soft ‘thank you’ and closed the door softly.

He wasn’t ready. Not yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow how predictable and obvious is my writing LOL  
> next chap may get into some deeper stuff maybe?? unless i decide to make a filler chapter or something idk  
> thanks for reading <3  
> \- ame


	8. In and Out (not the dirty way don't you dare comment on it ya nasties)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i suck at summaries that don't give away stuff so  
> hi  
> thats your summary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi im not dead  
> just slightly  
> yeah  
> read notes at the end im tired haha

It’s been a week since the last time Bin saw Dongmin, and he’s now realized how much Dongmin actually played into his life. He found himself packing extra treats in his lunch as thank-you’s to Dongmin for giving him more food, only to remember later on that Dongmin probably wouldn’t be there, and growing more disappointed when showing up to their normal meeting spot yet another day to not see Dongmin. He reflexively dove to his phone whenever he needed help on his homework, before he remembered Dongmin stopped responding to him and his daily messages (although he still sent his daily messages anyway). He texted Dongmin every time something funny happened in class, whenever he was bored, or whenever he was just, y’know, missing Dongmin. He never realized how important Dongmin had become in his life until suddenly he was out of it.

Yeah, it had only been a week, but he missed him, he really did. He missed Dongmin’s teasing, his witty responses, his goofy grin and pretty eye smile, how he was so quiet when he read but so loud when he laughed- he loved it all, and missed it all.

It was then that Bin realized his crush had definitely stopped being a kiddy crush.

He might’ve actually fallen in love with Lee Dongmin in under a month.

Wow, the world sure loved to shove Bin into the most inconvenient situations.

Why don’t you, ah, like a boy, yeah? A boy you met once and would probably never meet again- wait, no, let’s make you meet again! And let’s make you friends! Hm, how else to spice it up? Oh, yeah, let’s make you  _ fall in love  _ with the guy but only realize once the guy leaves your life, probably never to come back or spare you a second glance because you probably meant nothing to him.

Cool. Thanks, world. Love ya.

Bin hissed, dismissing the sour thoughts from his head. He had a long day ahead of him. It was a Saturday, and he was working double shifts at the store, since he would have nothing else to do otherwise. He sighed, tying on his uniform apron (which he didn’t get the point of- he was just working the cash register?) and glanced at the clock, realizing he still had some time before his shift started.

He took out his phone, sending a quick ‘good morning!! I’ve got work today, it sucks :/’ to Dongmin, knowing he won’t get a response, before sticking the device back into his pocket before taking his position at the register, preparing himself for the day.

“Hey, what’s up?”

Bin turned to glance at his co-worker, walking in, giving him a half-smile. “Hey, Jeongguk, what’s up?”

“The sky.” He joked, sliding into his spot at the register behind Bin’s. “Any plans after this shift? Tae was wondering if you’d like to join us in overwatch.” The older suggested, turning the light for his station on.

“Uh, I’m working a double shift today. Or a triple, not really sure- I’m gonna be here until six.” Bin responds with a shrug, leaning back against the wall of his station. Jeongguk hums and nods in response, as the two then fall into a comfortable silence, waiting for the first customers began to trickle through.

Soon enough, customers began to file through the lines, and Bin directed his attention to them, remembering to be polite and friendly.

“Good morning! How are you today?” He greets a woman, scanning her groceries. “Aw, aren’t you a cutie. I’m doing well, thank you.”

Bin grins wholeheartedly, eyes twitching up in a smile. “Thank you, ma’am. Your total is twenty eighty-seven.” He informs her, taking the cash handed to him and giving her the proper change, before sending her off with her groceries, telling her to have a great day.

“Why, aren’t you the cutest with customers?”

Bin blinks, turning back to the current customer. “Oh! Good morning, Mrs. Yoon.” He greeted with a smile, waving to Sanha who was clinging by her side.

“Morning, Bin. I didn’t know you’d be here today, I thought you only worked weekdays.”

“Ah.” Bin nods, scanning a carton of milk. “Normally I work the afternoon shifts on weekdays, but I also have the morning shift on Saturday, but today I’m taking the morning, afternoon, and evening shifts.” He explains, scanning and bagging the items with skilled experience.

“All three? Don’t overwork yourself, now, that’s a lot.”

Bin nods in acknowledgement. “Yeah, but I don’t have much else to do, I guess.” He answered with a shrug, missing the frown she threw at him.

“If you say so.”

“Your total is thirty-two seventeen, ma’am.” Bin responds promptly, hoping to get off the topic of what hours he’s working today and why. She nods, paying him. “You should stop by sometime again this week, I miss having you around. I could cook you something?” She suggests, taking her change from him.

“Ah, maybe. You cool with that, Sanha?” He asks, peeking over to the younger boy, who was looking at the candies on the sides of the checkout lane. At the mention of his name, he peeked over, blinking in confusion before nodding. “Yeah, definitely! Bin-hyung is cooool.” He nods, sticking a thumbs up out to them.

“I’ll see what I can do, thank you for the offer. Have a great day, Mrs. Yoon. You too, Sanha.” The two nod, trudging off with their bags. Bin lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He had stopped trying to come to the Yoon household, realizing he was probably annoying them more than he was making progress with meeting Dongmin again.

He carried through the day, ringing up more customers, greeting new co-workers who stopped in for their shift, sending off co-workers who were leaving their shift, playing a game on his phone whenever work was slow. It wasn’t until the afternoon when business really picked up, parents and teens filing through to get their groceries and random treats. Bin treated every customer like the last, greeting and talking to them respectfully although not really paying any attention to who they were or what they were buying, his brain on a customer-autopilot mode, almost.

He was zoning out, giving automatic responses, undergoing the process of scanning and pressing in numbers and values almost robotically.

He sighed, feeling the weight of working two, nearly three by now, nonstop shifts finally.

“Good afternoon.” He greeted the next customer with a tired smile, not even looking at them as he grabbed whatever items they were buying to scan.

They let out a combination of a grunt and hum in response, pulling money from their wallet to pay for their stuff. Bin almost snorted, realizing the person was probably feeling just as bad as he, but was showing it way more clearly than he was. He snuck a glance at the customer while scanning their items, nearly dropping the packet of candy once he saw who stood before him.

“I- o-oh-” he choked out, clearing his throat and ducking his head back down, hoping he didn’t notice his reaction.

Even dressed in a hoodie, with messy slightly unkempt hair, glasses he never wore, and some breakouts, Dongmin was still way too unfairly pretty and super easy to recognize. He had been looking at his phone, not seeing when Bin had looked up at him.  _ So he was still using his phone _ . Bin thought bitterly, frowning.  _ He was just ignoring me _ .

Even with the oversized hoodie, Bin could tell he wasn’t taking proper care of himself at all, the hoodie hanging more loosely off him than he remembered it had before, and the dark bags under his eyes evident.   
He didn’t realize he stopped scanning the items until Dongmin tried to rush him, before realizing, y’know, the guy he was trying to avoid was right in front of him.

“ _ Bin _ ?” He gasps out, eyes blowing wide. “I- but you only have morning shifts on Saturdays? And Mrs. Yoon came earlier but forgot to buy-  _ oh _ .” Dongmin frowned, realizing it was a setup all along. Why would she care if she forgot to buy a bunch of different types of candy? Of course.

“I took all the shifts today.” Bin explained quickly, hoping he wouldn’t scare him off.

“I- okay, look, I don’t know if I did something or what I did, but I’m  _ sorry _ , it-”   
“Bin, stop.” He cut Bin off, holding up his hand, the hurt and fear evident in his eyes. “Just, hurry up, customers are waiting and you’re causing a scene. We’ll settle this later.” He snaps harshly, and if he had seemed sad before all evidence of it had been wiped clear off his face. Bin frowned, a bit hurt, but nods. He had a job to do, after all. He tried to take his time scanning the groceries, and ringing him up, but after a while he noticed he really was taking a long time and everyone was getting impatient, so, for the sake of his job, he quickly finished up, handing Dongmin his change, ready to say something to him again, but he was already running past and out the store.

Dongmin left the first time on the first day they met.

He left a second when he stopped talking to Bin a week ago.

And, now, Bin let Dongmin go for the third time in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> spring break just passed!! im really happy bc spring break gave me the chance to be myself again!!  
> i dont think i've said it here before but I'm pretty much a baby akdsfla  
> i'm pretty close to most fanon interpretations of jimin if that gives you anything to work off of  
> but anyway i'm usually expected to be more mature and responsible or whatever but god all i wanna do is cuddle up with someone and whine and be a baby but  
> yeah i guess not  
> i mean i've been able to talk more childishly like I like though so I'm super happy!!  
> anyway sorry that's all abt me  
> so with the new mood i've been writing better i think!! hopefully this doesn't sound too rushed again omfg  
> hope you enjoy, pls support and idk leave a comment or smth i love those and i try to respond to every one unless i rly just don't know how to respond  
> thanks!!  
> \- ame


	9. let's fix this

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bin's done thinking it's all his fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry im sorry im sorry im sorry  
> i have no excuse  
> take this really short chapter  
> it's summer so i'll try to write more  
> guess who's a middle school graduate now tho??  
> im starting high school next year and i actually wanna die lmfao  
> okay bye

07:17

[ bin!! ]

dongmin

we need to talk this out

you can’t keep avoiding me

 

07:17

[ dongmin :) ]

wym

 

07:18

[ bin!! ]

oh, and so he lives :/

wym wym

what did i do to make you avoid me

like, you just.. poofed. in life. in school. in the market. this is the first time you’ve responded to my texts in nearly a month :/

 

07:23

[ bin!! ]

and now you’re doing it again :/

 

07:23

[ dongmin :) ]

and?

 

07:23

[ bin!! ]

and i messaged you every day. and you never responded

 

07:24

[ dongmin :) ]

your point?

 

07:24

[ bin!! ]

you know, for the most mature person i know, you're sure being hella childish about this.

dongmin, what did i do? what did you do? what happened to our friendship?

 

07:28

[ dongmin :) ]

our friendship would probably be a whole lot worse if you knew about everything happening but okay :/

 

07:28

[ bin!! ]

our friendship is a whole lot worse BECAUSE i dont know about anything happening, dongmin

i trusted you

i thought you’d come back to me

i thought we’d talk it out

nothing would come between our friendship unless it’s one of us holding us back..

i miss you dongmin, and i want to fix this, but you’re being too childishly stubborn to talk any of this out with me

 

07:31

[ dongmin :) ]

bin

i-

[ _dongmin :) is typing .._ ]

07:33

[ dongmin :) ]

come over, i’ll talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ill update... within a month... thank you for all your patience  
> ily all  
> ive had this a/b/o prompt in my head for forever now tho so i might get distracted and write that


	10. Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> someone stick an arobong up my ass and slap an astro album in my face and force me to write pls lmao  
> hope it's good enough lmao i rly don't know what's happening in this fic anymore

“Oh, Bin, you’re here. It’s kind of late, is everything okay?” Sanha’s mom looked upon the teenage boy in concern. “Did you.. run all the way here?”

Breathlessly, the boy nods, panting and learning against the wall. “Sorry, I, uh, need to talk to Dongmin. He invited me over.”   
Sanha’s mom almost seemed affected, as if upset that Dongmin hadn’t asked permission before doing so, before remembering the older had been refusing to see him for a month. She’d let it slide, for now. “Come in, you know where his room is, go ahead up.”

Bin flashed Sanha’s mom a grateful smile, sliding past her and dashing up the stairs leading to the top floor, where everyone’s rooms were. Instinctively, he went to Dongmin’s door and swivelled the knob, confused when it didn’t budge.

“Who is it?” A voice called from the inside.

“Bin.” The younger boy called back, biting the inside of his cheek.

“...oh.” There was a pause before the door was unlocked, opened, and there was now nothing between the two besides air and tension. “You’re here quick.”

“You’re talking late.”

“I know, sue me, I was scared. Get in before I change my mind.”

Dongmin ushered Bin into the room. Although Dongmin’s room was still neat, there was a obvious sign of chaos within its tidiness. To any outsider, the room would look fine, but Bin noticed Dongmin hadn’t been filing the books he’d been reading, his sweater wasn’t in his closet but instead set on top of his chair, his blinds were sealed shut, and his lamp was leaning.

“Spill.” Bin spits out, turning to the older accusingly. He might’ve been his elder, but clearly now he was acting childish.

“Sit.” Dongmin spit back, clearly sounding less confident than he attempted to let on. Bin raised a brow, looking around for a split second before shrugging and plopping down on the ground. Dongmin sighs but sits down in front of him nonetheless.

“What happened, Dongmin? This isn’t fair to either of us, but especially to me. You didn’t tell me anything.” Dongmin let out a deep sigh. “I know. It’s kinda stupid, but, I dunno. You’re probably gonna leave me when I tell you anyway.”

“Tell me what? What would be that bad, Dongmin? This is getting ridiculous.”

There was a long silence as the two sat. Bin stared at Dongmin, as Dongmin was doing anything but meeting Bin’s eyes.

“I, uh.. so, you know about the lgbtq plus community?” Dongmin asked, voice barely audible.

“..yeah? What does it have to do with this? Unless you’re a homophobe or something?”

“God, no, definitely not. I’m, uh..”

“Dongmin, spit it out.”

“I’m apart of the community, Bin. I’m gay.”

Bin deadpanned.

“And?”

“And? This is when you get mad and leave?”

A pause, yet again. “I can’t believe you. That’s what this was all about?”

“Yes? I mean, the kids at my school found out, and they were spreading rumors, and if they found out you’re friends with me, they’d go after you, and I can’t do that to you, Bin-”

“If they’re such homophobes, they’d go after me for being gay, not friends with a gay person.”

More silence.

They clearly weren’t very good at this talking thing.

“You’re- well, I mean, yeah they’d assume you’re gay because you hang out with me and they’d pick on you and-” Dongmin rambled on, before Bin interrupted him again.

“Yeah, their assumptions would be right, and what would it matter?”

“Wait, are you actually-”

“Yeah, I am, that’s why it’s so stupid you’d think I’d drop our friendship over this.”

“Well, it would spread to your parents, and what would they think?”

“They know! And they support me, because they’re good parents!”

“Well, mine didn’t and I didn’t want you to end up like me, okay?!”

“So you cut off everything with me, avoid me like the plague, pretend I don’t exist, and snap at me everytime I try to preserve our friendship?”

Dongmin let out a deep breath. “Bin, I’ve never had anyone in my life care for me after hearing I’m gay besides Mrs. Yoon, and Sanha himself.”

Bin’s expression softened.

“Well, you should’ve had more trust in me, because you have one more person that cares.”

“I can’t go around trusting everyone, Bin. My own parents kicked me out.”

“But I won’t leave you, okay? I promise.”

Dongmin finally looked up at Bin, their eyes meeting for the first time since Bin entered the room.

“I’m sorry for ruining our friendship..” He muttered out.

“And I’m sorry for not being there for you.” Bin spoke back, hand settling to rest on Dongmin’s shoulder.

“No, no, you were here, I just wasn’t. Can we start this again?” The older opened his arms, inviting the younger to hug.

Bin let out a smile, leaning in to the open arms. “Sure.” He pulled back, sticking out his hand for the older to shake.

“Hi, I’m Bin. Moon Bin, but you can call me Bin. I’m your junior and I’m very gay.”

Dongmin grinned, giving his hand a brisk shake. “Hello, Bin, I’m Dongmin. I’m your senior and I’m also very gay. Can we be gay friends?”

Bin nods enthusiastically. “And I’ll never leave, I promise.”

“Even if I murder someone?”

“Who else is going to help you bury the body?”


End file.
